How I Use It
I use this tool when I teach Presidential Elections. In the past I usually get more engagement from students during an election year and they are really interested in the break down of states. I have used it during non-election years as a tool for students to make predictions on the upcoming elections based on current news data as well as mid-term election data. I also break the class down into the 50 states and the District of Columbia and have them go through the school to have teachers vote for M&Ms or skittles and use the website to determine the winner. To include a third party I sometimes throw in peanut M&Ms.
My Take
I believe this teaching tool gives students a visual to the electoral college process. By using this visual and interactive tool students can gain a deeper understanding of terms such as battleground states and connect the knowledge they are acquiring to current news events or the political climate in the country. I believe that the tool's interactive functions can help students not only be engaged in a Civics classroom but can also be used in other content areas where data analysis, statistics, and creating predictions are activities used to help facilitate student learning.
